At Least Another Year of Ebola Ahead: Expert

The deadly virus is unlikely to be conquered before the end of 2015 as it takes time to develop anti-viral vaccines.

MOSCOW, December 24 (Sputnik) — The Ebola outbreak may last until the end of 2015, as the vaccines require more time to be tested, said a leading medical expert, as cited by BBC.

"We need to be ready for a long effort, a sustained effort [for] probably the rest of 2015," the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr. Peter Piot, was cited as saying by the newspaper.

Dr. Piot, who was ennobled as a Baron by King Albert II of Belgium in 1995 for his extensive medical work fighting Ebola and HIV, mentioned the positive achievements that were made due to the assistance of the international community, and Great Britain in particular. Healthcare centers had been built, and people could receive proper medical treatment and assistance. However, Dr. Piot claimed that the Ebola virus posed a serious threat to human health, and that many people are still dying from the dangerous virus.

"The Ebola epidemic is still very much there. People are still dying, new cases are being detected," Dr. Piot told the BBC. He said that vaccines are currently being tested and expressed his hope that medical experts will discover effective anti-viral therapies within three months.

According to the WHO, the virus has killed about 7,300 people so far. West Africa has been the main area of infection, but several cases have been also registered in Europe and the US.